


Love Can Be Found in the Most Unlikely of Places

by crazychelseablue



Category: Football RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-06-05
Packaged: 2018-01-20 08:01:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1502852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazychelseablue/pseuds/crazychelseablue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snapshots from the lives of Leo Torres and Cristiano Ronaldo Jr from the time when they are 3 years old, to the time when they are 20.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. How They Met

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mouthesassyone](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mouthesassyone/gifts).



> I have absolutely no idea where this idea came from. It just sort of happened, and so I'm gonna go with it.

Fernando had never really been a fan of Sergio’s birthday parties. They were too flashy, too extravagant. But of course, he always went to them anyway, because Sese was his best friend and best friends never miss each other’s birthdays.

He pulled into the drive, Leo squealing from the back seat about the ‘pretty lights’ that decorated the house.

He held his son close as they walked into the crowded house, scanning each room for Sergio as he passed through. He spotted him just finishing a conversation with a man he had never met, but recognized as Canelita, the flamenco singer. “Sese!” he called, pushing his way through the crowd towards his beaming best friend.

“Nando!” Sergio’s face lit up the moment he laid eyes on Fernando. He pulled him into a warm embrace. “I’ve missed you, hermano.” he murmured.

“It’s so great to see you!” Fernando said as they finally broke apart.

“You too! And my main man Leo!” Sergio reached out and took Leo into his arms. “How’ve you been little guy?”

“Good, Tío Sese.” Leo was grinning from ear to ear.

Sergio smiled and turned to Fernando. “Where are Olalla and Nora?”

“Oh, Nora got sick.” he said with an apologetic look. “And Ola stayed home to take care of her.”

“That’s a shame.” Sergio said. “Look, I’d better make the rounds. It’s my party after all. You’re welcome to come with.”

“Nah, that’s okay. I think I see Xabi over there. I should probably go say hi.”

“Alright, but we'll catch up later, yeah?”

“Of course!”

“You mind if I take Leo with me? I love this kid!” Sergio said, smiling as he mussed Leo’s hair.

“No, go ahead. He loves you too!” He watched Sergio and Leo disappear into the crowd and started to make his way towards Xabi.

* * *

 

Fernando was in the living room, sipping a beer and talking with Xabi, Iker, and Alvaro when Leo came running up to him, holding the hand of a boy he didn’t recognize. “Papi, Papi! Guess what?!” he screamed.

Fernando chuckled “What, mijo?”

“This is my boyfriend, Cristiano!” he shouted, grabbing the other boy and giving him the kind of kiss that only 3 year olds are capable of.

Fernando’s eyes widened. “Oh, um, that’s nice, mijo!” he said with mock enthusiasm. He had been caught too off guard for a proper response. He wouldn’t mind his son having a little boyfriend, but this could only be Ronaldo’s kid, and that didn’t exactly thrill him.

That’s when he noticed Sergio and Ronaldo making their way towards him. “I guess they found you, then.” Sergio said as he approached, looking sheepish.

“Um... yeah.” was all Fernando could think to say.

“I had the same reaction.” Ronaldo muttered, not looking any more pleased with the current situation than he was.

“Well I think it’s ADORABLE!” Sergio grinned. “Oh! I almost forgot you two don’t know each other, yet! Fernando, this is Cristiano. Cristiano, this is Fernando.” Sergio couldn’t keep from laughing as the two men shared an awkward handshake.

“Well,” Fernando said, less than enthusiastic. “I guess we’ll have to start arranging some play dates.”

* * *

 

They were visiting Olalla’s parents back in Spain when Fernando got a call from a number he didn’t recognize.

“Hello?” He was standing in the kitchen, watching the kids play in the back garden through the glass doors while his mother-in-law cooked dinner. 

“Hi, Fernando? This is Cristiano.” a distinctly Portuguese voice said.

“Oh, uh, hi Cristiano.”

“Sergio gave me your number. I hope you don’t mind. Cris wants to talk to Leo. He’s been begging me to call for days.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I don’t mind.” Fernando called Leo over. “Mijo, Cris wants to talk to you.”

“CRIS!” The boy beamed. Fernando handed the phone over and the two boys began chatting happily.

“Who’s Cris?” his mother-in-law asked as Leo finally handed the phone back to his father.

Before Fernando could answer, Leo chimed in “He’s my boyfriend, Abuela!”

She paused for a moment. “Oh sweetie” she said with an uncomfortable chuckle “boys can’t date boys.”

Fernando’s jaw dropped. He took a moment to process what he had just heard before rounding on her. “Excuse me?” he asked, incredulous.

She raised her eyebrows at him. “I was merely explaining to my grandson that boys are supposed to date girls, not other boys.”

“Oh really? And why’s that?” He asked, his voice challenging.

“Because anything else is unnatural, and honestly, a bit disgusting.”

Leo’s eyes began to water. He looked questioningly up at his father, who scooped him up, holding him close as if he could somehow shelter his son from her words. “Papi?” he asked, his voice shaky “Is that true?”

Fernando looked into the wide, innocent eyes of his little boy, his heart breaking for him. He had known deep down that this day would come. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that there were far too many homophobic people in the world. He had just hoped to be able to shelter Leo from all of that hatred for a little while longer. “Of course not, mijo. You can date whoever you want, and that is perfectly okay. It will never be disgusting, or unnatural, and I will always love you just the same. I promise.” he turned to his mother-in-law as Leo snuggled closer to him. “Now you listen here,” he said, his voice full of malice, “if you ever, and I mean ever say anything like that anywhere near either of my children ever again, I swear to god you will never see them again. Do you understand? He is not disgusting, or unnatural. He is a little boy, who happens to like another little boy, and there is nothing at all wrong with that. Are we clear?”


	2. Madrid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys are 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is really short and not actually very good. It's mostly just to set up the next chapter.

Cristiano was out back practicing football with his dad when the phone rang. He ran indoors as fast as he could, having lost track of time.

“Hi Leo.” he answered the phone breathlessly.

“Hi Cris.” just the sound of Leo’s voice made Cris smile. Their phone calls were always the highlight of his day. He only wished they could see each other more often than holidays and summer break.

“What’s up?”

“I have a surprise for you.” Leo was obviously beaming.

“Ooh what is it, what is it?!?” Cris asked, bouncing up and down with excitement.

Leo laughed “Shut up so I can tell you!”

“Okay, okay. I’ll be quiet, I promise.”

Leo paused for what he hoped was dramatic effect before shouting “I’M MOVING TO MADRID!”

Cris’ jaw dropped. “WHAT?! NO WAY!”

“Yeah! Now that my dad is retiring he wants to move back to Madrid. We just started packing and everything. Dad says he already bought us a house down there. I can’t remember where it is, but he said it’s not that far from yours!”

“Oh my god! I can’t believe it! When are you moving?!” Cris was beyond excited. He had only ever gotten to see his boyfriend over breaks, but now he would be here all the time. Sure they played games online and they talked on the phone, but that wasn’t the same. Now they could play football together, and ride bikes together, and maybe even go to the same school!

“A week.” Cris could picture the grin on Leo’s face, and grinned as well.

* * *

“LEOOOOOOOOOOOO!” Cris shot out of his father’s car before it had even come to a full stop.

“CRIS!” Leo screamed, running out of the house to meet Cris in the middle of the yard, where they embraced.

“I’m so glad you’re here.” Cris whispered, refusing to let go of the other boy.

“So am I.” Leo whispered back before they finally broke apart. “Mum says that if I finish unpacking then I can go over your house. Which one is it, again?”

“It’s on the other side of the street, five doors down.”

“Then why the heck did you drive here?”

Cris laughed “We didn’t drive from there, stupid. We were on our way back from buying new football boots because I grew out of mine. That’s when we saw the moving van and realized you guys were here a day early.”

“C’mon, let’s go unpack my stuff so you can show me your new boots.” he said with as smile as he grabbed his boyfriend’s hand and they ran into the house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god it's so bad. I am so sorry


	3. Rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo joins the Atletico youth academy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so bad.

“Leo!” Olalla called after the boy as he dashed up the stairs. “Leo, you can’t wear that all the time! You have to at least let me wash it before your first match!”

“Oh, leave him be.” Fer chided his wife softly. “He’s excited.”

“I know he’s excited, but that doesn’t mean he can spend the rest of his life in his Atleti kit. He has to take it off sometime.”

“Good luck convincing him of that.” Fer smiled.

* * *

This was it, Leo’s first match for Atletico de Madrid. He took his place on the pitch (CAM) and faced Los Blancos. His eyes wandered over to his father on the sideline, decked out in Atletico gear and beaming with pride, then to Tío Sese in his ‘Hala Madrid’ shirt with little Sergio on his shoulders. Next to Tío Sese, he saw Tío Iker kicking a small ball around with Martin while Cristiano’s dad watched on and smiled.

Leo wondered if they were proud of him, if they understood why he chose Atletico, if they still loved him the way they had before.

He turned back towards his opposition as the referee prepared to blow the whistle. He locked eyes with Cris. The other boy made no effort to hide his hurt. He hadn’t talked to Leo since he told him the news that he was playing for Los Rojiblancos.

“Te amo.” he mouthed, but received no reply from the striker in white.

* * *

“Hey Cristiano.” Fernando answered his mobile. “What’s up?”

“Our sons aren’t speaking to each other.” The concern was plain in his voice.

“If I remember correctly, it’s your son that’s not speaking to mine. My son is the one that’s been sitting up in his room crying for the last two weeks.”

“I’m really sorry, Fernando. I’ve tried to get Cris to talk to him, but he just won’t. But let’s not forget that your son isn’t the only one who’s hurting right now.”

“So he chose Atletico! What’s so bad about that! His father played for Atletico! He’s always been an Atleti fan! It’s not like this was some big shock!”

“But it was.”

“Excuse me?”

“It _was_ a big shock. Not to me, and not to you, but it was to Cris. Of course he always knew that Leo was an Atleti fan, but still, deep down, he always believed that when the time came, Leo would choose him. He always believed that Leo would choose him over Atletico, but he didn’t, and that’s why he’s hurting, too.”

Fernando sighed. “Looks like we’ve got some sorting out to do. Come over with Cris in an hour?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

* * *

“I’m sorry.” Leo’s voice ended the silence in the living room. Leo and Cris were sitting on the couch across from their fathers, who had just spent the past half hour explaining to the boys why the other was hurt, because ten year old boys weren’t exactly the best at discussing or understanding feelings. “I didn’t know that going to Atleti would make you so sad. I’m really sorry, but I’m not changing my mind. I’m a Rojiblanco.”

“I know.” Cris was looking down at his swinging legs. The couch was still just a little bit too tall for the boys’ feet to touch the floor. “I just wish you weren’t...” he sniffled. “I wanted you to play with me. We would make such a good team. We’d be the best striker and attacking mid in the world.”

“Why do _I_ have to move? Why don’t _you_ come to _Atletico_.” Cristiano had to fight to keep his face neutral. There was no way he wanted his son to play for pathetico, but if that’s what Cris chose, he would just have to deal with it.

“What?! I can’t leave Real! I would never do that!”

“Well,” Fernando had to point out. “Maybe now you can understand how Leo feels when you ask him to play for Real.”

“Oh.” Cris said, finally understanding. “I’m sorry Leo. It’s okay that we play for different teams.”

Fernando and Cristiano smiled, triumphant, as the boys scooted closer to each other on the couch and embraced, no longer rivals.


End file.
